A plunger is the most common household article used to clear clogged plumbing fixtures such as drains, toilets, and sinks. As seen in FIG. 1, the plunger generally consists of two parts: (1) a cup and (2) a handle. With a slightly modified cup, which has a skirt (3) protruding from the cup (FIG. 2), the plunger is used for industrial applications such as in hotels. The plunger cup typically consists of rubber or a flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material. PVC is sometimes prepared as a composite with fillers such as thermoplastic rubber (TPR), and up to 35% of the fillers is added to the PVC for optimizing flexibility and hardness of the plunger cup. The handle is typically wood or solid plastic, but other materials such as clear acrylic are used.
Regardless of the materials used to construct a plunger or the exact form of the cup, plungers operate by making a seal with the plumbing fixture's surfaces after which the application of pressure on the flexible cup through the handle creates a pressure that clears clogs. The number of times pressure must be applied to the handle to create a plunging action depends on the severity of the clog.
After use, the plunger (cup and handle) typically are covered in materials originally destined for the sewer, such as toilet water and/or other materials such as fecal matter. That water and other materials tend to drip onto the floor when the plunger is removed from the toilet and contaminate any surface it comes into contact with. Not only is the water dripping on the floor highly undesirable with regard to the cleanliness of the bathroom and damage to the floor's surface but it also creates sites for bacterial growth.